12/02/10 - Now Gordon wants £20,000 of your money when you die!

Gordon Brown has a consistent track record of saying 'no new taxes' before an election and then raising them by stealth after it; but this week he has now found a new level of taxation by stealth which will affect every one of us.

Labour are now secretly planning another tax - a death tax - to pay for their unfunded and ill-thought out plan for social care. When you die, a Labour Government would take £20,000 from what you leave to your children and family.  The worrying thing about this is that if you are a person with an average or small income, this tax would hit you the most and you would probably end up with nothing.

In contrast, the Conservatives want to help people in old age so that they can leave as much of their lifetime's savings as possible to their children and grand children. The Conservatives will offer people the chance to pay a one off premium of £8,000 into a voluntary scheme to cover the cost of residential care in old age. So under Conservative plans no-one would be forced to sell their home to pay for care.

Commenting on the developments Paul said, "This policy is also another punishment for people who have done the right thing and built up some savings. This has to stop.  One of the missing features our economic culture is savings.  This Labour policy will do nothing to encourage people to save.''